An Archive of Hope

Harvey Milk was one of the first openly and politically gay public officials in the United States, and his remarkable activism put him at the very heart of a pivotal civil rights movement reshaping America in the 1970s. An Archive of Hope is Milk in his own words, bringing together in one volume a substantial collection of his speeches, columns, editorials, political campaign materials, open letters, and press releases, culled from public archives, newspapers, and personal collections.

The volume opens with a foreword from Milk’s friend, political advisor, and speech writer Frank Robinson, who remembers the man who “started as a Goldwater Republican and ended his life as the last of the store front politicians” who aimed to “give ‘em hope” in his speeches. An illuminating introduction traces GLBTQ politics in San Francisco, situates Milk within that context, and elaborates the significance of his discourse and memories both to 1970s-era gay rights efforts and contemporary GLBTQ worldmaking.

Jason Edward Black is Associate Professor of Communication Studies and an affiliate professor in Gender and Race Studies at The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. He is the co-editor of Arguments about Animal Ethics.
Charles E. Morris III is Professor in the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies at Syracuse University and editor of Remembering the AIDS Quilt, Queering Public Address and co-editor of Readings on the Rhetoric of Social Protest.
Foreword: Frank Robinson, friend and speechwriter of Harvey Milk; member of Chicago Gay Liberation in the early 1970s, helped shape the rhetoric that Milk used to inspire the LGBT community across the country in the late 1970s. Robinson was a journalist for many years, has written numerous novels, several of which were turned into films (including the Towering Inferno). Robinson had a cameo role in the film Milk.

Preface

Foreword: “Harvey”
Frank M. Robinson

Introduction: Harvey Milk’s Political Archive & Archival Politics

Chapter One: Milk and the Culture of Populism

1. “Interview with Harvey Milk,” interview, Kalendar, 17 August 1973

2. “Address to the San Francisco Chapter of the National Women‘s Political Caucus,” speech, 5 September 1973

3. “Address to the Joint International Longshoremen & Warehousemen‘s Union of San Francisco and to the Lafayette Club,” speech, 30 September 1973

4. “An Open Letter to the Mayor of San Francisco,” public letter, 22 September 1973

5. “MUNI/Parking Garage,” press release, 27 September 1973

6. “Alfred Seniora,” press release, 28 September 1973

7. “Who Really Represents You,” campaign flyer, September 1973

8. “Milk Note,” column, Vector 1 February 1974

9. “Anyone Can Be a Movie Critic: How Not to Find Leadership,” editorial, San Francisco Crusader, February 1974

10. “Letter to the City of San Francisco Hall of Justice on Police Brutality,” public letter, 14 February 1974

11. “Where I Stand,” article draft, Sentinel, 28 March 1974

12. “Where There is No Victim, There is No Crime,” press release, 1 April 1974

13. “Political Power,” article draft, Sentinel, 23 May 1974

14. “Letter to the San Francisco Chronicle about Anti-Gay Editorials,” letter draft, 1 July 1974

15. “Library or Performing Arts Center,” press release, 4 December 1974


Chapter Two: The Grassroots Activist Becomes “The Mayor of Castro Street”

16. “Au Contraire … PCR Needed,” column, Bay Area Reporter, 9 February 1975

17. “Harvey Milk for Supervisor,” campaign letter, 26 February 1975

18. “Statement of Harvey Milk, Candidate for the 16th Assembly District,” campaign material, 9 March 1976

19. “Reactionary Beer,” column, Bay Area Reporter, 18 March 1976

20. “Nixon’s Revenge – The Republicans and Their Supreme Court,” column, Bay Area Reporter, 15 April 1976

21. “My Concept as a Legislator,” column, Bay Area Reporter, 27 May 1976

22. “Uncertainty of Carter or the Certainty of Ford,” column, Bay Area Reporter, 2 September 1976

23. “A Nation Finally Talks About … It,” column, Bay Area Reporter, 9 June 1977

24. “Gay Economic Power,” column, Bay Area Reporter, 15 September 1977

25. “You‘ve Got to Have Hope,” speech, 24 June 1977


Chapter Three: Supervisor Milk Speaks

26. “Harvey Speaks Out,” interview, Bay Area Reporter, 8 December 1977

27. “A City of Neighborhoods: First Major Address I and II,” reprinted speech, Bay Area Reporter, 10 January 1978 and 2 February 1978

28. “The Word is Out,” public letter, 1 February 1978

29. “Letter to ‘Abe’ on Domestic Politics,” private letter, 7 February 1978

30. “Letter to Council Members re Judging People by Myths,” public letter, 13 March 1978

31. “Resolution Requiring State Department to Close the South African Consulate” and “Closing the Consulate,” press releases, 22 March 1978

32. “Letter to President Jimmy Carter,” private letter, 12 April 1978

33. “Untitled (on Gay Caucus and Gay Power),” column, Bay Area Reporter,” 27 April 1978

34. “California Gay Caucus,” article draft, Alternate, 12 May 1978


Chapter Four: Milk and the Politics of Gay Rights

35. “Keynote Speech at Gay Conference 5,” tape cassette transcription of speech, 10 June 1978

36. “Gay Rights,” article draft, Coast to Coast, 16 June 1978

37. “Gay Freedom Day Speech,” reprinted speech, Bay Area Reporter, 25 June 1978

38. “To Beat Briggs,” column, Bay Area Reporter, 3 August 1978

39. “I Have High Hopes Address,” stump speech, 1978

40. “Harvey Milk vs. John Briggs,” televised debate transcription, 6 August 1978

41. “The Positive or the Negative,” column, Bay Area Reporter, 31 August 1978

42. “Statement on Briggs/Bigotry,” public letter, 22 September 1978

43. “Overall Needs of the City,” speech, 25 September 1978

44. “Ballot Argument Against Proposition 6,” public letter (with Frank Robinson), 7 November 1978


Chapter Five: Harvey’s Last Words

45. “Political Will,” tape cassette transcription, 18 November 1977


Document List

Editor Biographies